LAKE WALES, Fla. — Barbara Gilbert, 77, is having to relearn how to walk after several serious falls that left her wheelchair bound.
“Every time I get up out the bed, my ankles and stuff swell,” said Gilbert.
She is living at The Groves Center in Lake Wales, a not-for-profit nursing home and rehabilitation center. Gilbert told ABC Action News her experience there has been poor, to say the least.
“These people are negligent. They are being very negligent,” said Gilbert.
According to Gilbert, residents were told Saturday night that the facility was running out of briefs.
“Everybody don’t have grandchildren like I have. My grandson brought me some of my Depends from home,” she said.
Gilbert said by Sunday, there were no more briefs available, and patients were left wearing wet briefs until Monday night, when they were finally changed.
“How do you all run out of briefs? How does that happen? When you got all these people in here to take care of and to change and everything,” Gilbert said.
ABC Action News went to The Groves Center to ask about Gilbert's claims. The administrator refused to answer any of our questions.
After doing some digging, we found that the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has inspected the nursing home numerous times after receiving multiple complaints of neglect and violations over the years. The Groves Center is also rated Below Average by Medicare.
“They make food, and it’s disgusting. Sometimes you can't even eat it. You look at it, and it looks like slop,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert’s daughter, Elisa Alston, said she has now filed a complaint with AHCA.
“Not only for my mom but for other people that don’t have a voice to speak. Like I explained to them, if you walk into a nursing home and you’re working there, pretend like they’re your mom and dad,” said Elisa Alston, Daughter of Gilbert.
ABC Action News reached out to AHCA, and they did not get back to us in time for this report.
